Appositive clauses

Relative vs. appositive clauses

The problem that now arises seems to be quite serious.

The problem that economics is getting worse seems to be

quite serious.

 difference(s)?
Relative vs. appositive clauses

The problem that now arises seems to be quite serious.

[relative]

The problem that economics is getting worse seems to be

quite serious. [appositive]

 difference(s)?
Relative vs. appositive clauses

The problem that now arises seems to be quite serious.

[relative]
The problem that economics is getting worse seems to be
quite serious. [appositive]

In appositive clauses:
 the pronoun that cannot be replaced by a wh-
pronoun
 the N to which the clause is attached is not included
in the internal structure of the clause
General properties (1)

 that (no matter whether restrictive or nonrestrictive) is

not an element with a subject/obejct/etc. function but a
conjuction
e.g.: John didn’t like Mary’s suggestion, even her final
one, that he should abandon his plans.

 the head of the NP it modifies is an abstract noun

e.g.: fact, idea, news, remark, suggestion
General properties (2)

 in apposition in general the apposed units can be linked

by be
e.g.: Unfotunately, the fact is that she doesn’t like
handball.

 the antecedent of the appositive clause is often

nominalization (in restrictive, and nonrestrictive cases,
too)
e.g.:
The police reported that drugs had been found.
The police report that drugs had been found (appeared in the
papers yesterday.)
General properties (3)

 examples of N heads with indefinite article exist

e.g.: A message that he would be late arrived by special
delivery.
BUT: before facts the definite article is obligatory

 plural heads are uncommon

e.g.: ?Her mother was worried at the possibilities that her
daughter was lazy and (that she) disliked school.
BUT: examples with facts
General properties (4)

 nominalization of Vs that take that-clauses with putative

should or mandative subjunctive
 object clause → appositive clause
 other properties (putative should or mandative
subjunctive) are preserved
e.g.:
The suggestion that the new rule (should) be adopted
came from the chairman.
OR (discontinuous NP)
The suggestion came from the chairman that the new
rule (should) be adopted.
Questions related to ambiguity (1)

 difficulties when the appositive construction is seemingly

similar to the relative construction
e.g.: A report that he stole was ultimately sent to the
police.

 solution: appositive indicators like namely or viz.

e.g.: This last fact, namely that ...
Questions related to ambiguity (2)

 also:
 restrictive clause, nonrestrictive premodification of
antecedent head N by adjective
e.g.: The ugly fact that he was holding a gun
indicated his guilt.

 nonrestrictive clause, restrictive premodification of

antecedent head N by adjective
e.g.: The more relevant fact, that gun hadn’t been
fired, was curiously ignored.
Postmodification
by nonfinite clauses
Nonfinite clause types

 -ing participle clauses

 -ed participle clauses

 infinitive clauses
Postmodification by -ing participle clauses (1)

 correspondance with relative clauses where the relative

pronoun is the subject
e.g.:
The person who will write / will be writing / writes /
is writing / wrote / was writing reports is my colleague.
↕
The person writing reports is my colleague.
Postmodification by -ing participle clauses (2)

 usually restrictive
 the antecedent head corresponds to the implicit subject
of the nonfinite clause
e.g.:
Reports that my colleague is writing will be discussed
tomorrow. ↕
Reports being written by my colleague will be discussed
tomorrow. (passive: report is the subject)
 -ing forms are not to be taken as abbreviated
progressives in relative clauses: stative Vs can appear in
participial form
e.g.: It was a mixture consisting of oil and vinegar. [‘that
consisted of’; ‘*that was consisting of’]
Postmodification by -ing participle clauses (3)

 aspectual features:
 progressive: see above
 perfective: usually impossible to be represented by
nonfinite clauses
e.g.: *The lady having cooked the cake is my aunt.
BUT: indefinite Ns tend to be more acceptable with
respect to these constructions
e.g.: ?Any person having witnessed the attack is
under suspicion.
Postmodification by -ing participle clauses (4)

 inferring tense
 from the finite clause
e.g.: Did you know the man talking to my sister? [‘who was
talking to my sister’]
 from the context
e.g.: The man sitting next to her on that occasion [‘who
was sitting next to her’] ...
NOTE: in the finite clause the past tense verb indicates the
tense denoted by the nonfinite clause, e.g.:
The man being quiestioned by the police was my brother.
= The man who was (being) questioned is my brother.
Postmodification by -ed participle clauses (1)

 correspondance with relative clauses where the relative

pronoun is the subject (just like in the case of -ing
participles)
e.g.:
The car that will be repaired / is (being repaired) / was
(being) repaired by that mechanic ...
↕
The car (being) repaired by that mechanic ...
Postmodification by -ed participle clauses (2)

 usually restrictive (→ -ing)

 the antecedent head corresponds to the implicit subject
of the nonfinite clause (→ -ing)
 unlike -ing participle clauses (which are linked with the
active voice), -ed participle constructions are in
connection with the passive voice
e.g.: The train which arrived at platform 1 is from York.
(arrive: intransitive → no passivization → -ed participle
construction is not possible)
BUT: there are exception with certain adverbs
e.g.: The train recently arrived at platfrom 1 is from York.
Postmodification by -ed participle clauses (3)

 aspectual features:
 progressive aspect
e.g.:
The food which was / has been eaten was meant for
tomorrow. ↕
The food eaten / having been eaten was meant for
tomorrow.
 perfectiveaspect is usually not possible
e.g.: ?*The food having been eaten was meant for
tomorrow.
Postmodification by infitive clauses (1)

The man to help you is Mr Johnson.

The man (for you) to see is Mr Johnson.
The thing (for you) to be these days is a systems analyst.
The place (for you) to stay is the university guest house.

 correspondace with relative caluses in which the relative is

subject / object / adverbial (or sometimes, complement)
 subject of the infinitive (for you) is optional
Postmodification by infitive clauses (2)

 formal cases: preposition + relative pronoun + infinitive

The place at which to stay is ...
The way in which to do it is ...
*The way which to do it in ...
*The way to do it in ...

 ambiguity when the subject of the infinitive is omitted and

the verb can be both transitive and intransitive
e.g.: He is the best man to choose. (man: subj / obj)
Postmodification by infitive clauses (3)

 active and passive voice

 only one of them is possible
e.g.: I’ve got letters to write tonight.
The animals to be found in Kenya ...
 either of the is possible
e.g.: Give me a list of people to invite / to be invited.
cf.: there + be + N constructions
e.g.: There are letters to wirte / to be written.
 only active with expressed subjects
e.g.: The man for you to consult is X
*The man for you to be consulted is X
Postmodification by infitive clauses (4)

 modal vs. nonmodal sense

 antecedent is subject and has a ‘restrictive marker’ →
nonmodal
e.g.: They were the last guests to arrive [‘who
arrived’].
 antecedent is object → modal
e.g.: The things to do ... [‘that we should do’]
Nonrestrictive postmodification by nonfinite
clauses (1)

The scholar, to be found daily in the British Museum, has

devoted his life to ...
*This scholar, to find ...
*This place, to stay ...

 in the corresponding relative clauses the relative

pronoun is the subject (in all the cases (-ing, -ed,
infintive))
Nonrestrictive postmodification by nonfinite
clauses (2)

 mobility: moving of nonrestrictive nonfinite clauses to

sentence-initial position is possible

→ ambiguities:
The man, wearing such dark glasses, obviously couldn’t
see clearly. [‘who was wearing ...’ / ‘because he was
wearing ...’ / whenever he wore ...’]
Appositive postmodification by -ing and
infinitive clauses

 appositive postmodification by -ed participle clauses is

not possbile
 appositive postmodification by infinitive clauses
 subject of infinitive is to be derived from context
e.g.: The appeal to us to give blood received strong
support.
 appositive postmodification by -ing clauses
e.g.: I’m looking for a job driving cars.
preposition + -ing also possible (but not in finite
constructions, e.g.: the hope of winning ... vs. I hope that
X will win...)
Pronouns
General properties, classifications
Personal pronouns (1)

 express definite meaning

 reference
 anaphoric
 cataphoric
 situational
Personal pronouns (2)

 referring ‘it’
 inanimate objects
 noncount substances
 singular abstractions or collections of people
 whole sentence(s)
 ‘prop it’
 to denote time, place of event, state
e.g.: It is rainy; It is getting late.
 special uses of we
inclusive authorial, editorial, rhetorical we; reference to hearer (e.g.:
How are we feeling today? (doctor to patient)
Personal pronouns (3)

 anaphoric vs. cataphoric reference

 requirement: the constituent to which reference is
made by the pronoun must have precendece over the
pronoun
 if cataphoric possible, anaphoric is possible, too
 modification, determination
 restrictive modification of pronouns works with:
 he, she (but archaic)
 plural demonstrative pronouns (those who ... vs. *they who ...)
 1st and 2nd person pronouns: with rhetorical/emotive (silly you; we
doctors; you to whom I owe my happiness, you there, etc.)
 personal pronouns do not occur with determiners (*the he)
Personal pronouns (4)

 generic uses
 he in coreference with a singular generic NP
e.g.: Ever since he found a need to communicate,
man has been the ‘speaking animal’.
 one, plural pronouns to refer to people in general
e.g.: We live in fast world.
You can never tell what will happen.
Personal pronouns (5)

 pronouns with coordinated antecedents

Mary and I have finished our work.
If you, Mary, and I have already finished, we can have
lunch.

 order of precedence: 1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person

Reflexive pronouns (1)

 end in -self, -selves

 can function as (direct/indirecet) object,

(subject/prepositional) complement, appositional phrase
They helped themselves.
He is not himself today.
We couldn’t come ourselves.
Reflexive pronouns (2)

 basic use

Hei saw himj / himselfi in the mirror.

Shei asked himj to introduce himselfj / *herselfi.

Help yourselves / *ourselves / themsleves.

Reflexive pronouns (3)

 obligatory reflexive pronoun as object (when

coreference applies)
 with reflexive verbs
e.g.: She always prides herself.
 with semi-reflexive verbs (i.e. the reflexive may be
omitted)
e.g.: Behave (yourself) now!
 with nonreflexive verbs (i.e. transitives but do not
require reflexives)
e.g.: John blamed himself.
but see: Mary’s mother gets her / herself up before 8.
Reflexive pronouns (4)

 obligatory reflexive pronoun after preposition (when

coreference applies)

 with prepositional objects (with perpositional

complements that have close relation to the
preceding verb)
e.g.: Mary stood looking at herself in the mirror.

 with prepositional phrases following a N which refers

to a work of art, story, etc.
e.g.: Do you have a recent photograph of yourself?
Reflexive pronouns (5)

 optional reflexive pronoun (i.e. it can be replaced by

the ordinary objective pronoun)

 insome spatial prepositional phrases

e.g.: Mason stepped back, gently closed the door
behind him(self), and walked down the corridor.

 in semi-emphatic use
Reflexive pronouns (6)

 semi-emphatic reflexives
 after prepositions like, than, (as...) as, but
(for),except (for), and as for
e.g.: Except for us / ourselves, the whole dorm was
asleep.
 when the reflexive pronoun is coordinated with
another phrase
e.g.: They have never invited Margaret and me /
myself to dinner.
My syster an I / myself went sailing yesterday.
Reflexive pronouns (7)

 emphatic reflexives
e.g.: I myself wouldn’t go there.
 mobility of positioning the reflexive pronoun
 to express ‘speaking personally’ or to show contrast
with respect ot other object/person
e.g.: I’d prefer you to do the job yourself, rather than
to leave it to John.
Possessive pronouns

 determinative vs. independent possessives

(my, your, etc. vs. mine, yours, etc.)
 emphatic determinative own
possessives have no (modifiers or) determiners except
for own (=determiner)
 disambiguating function
Johni cooks hisi,j dinner every day. vs. John cooks his own
dinner every day.
 can be intensified by very
Reciprocal pronouns (1)

 each other, one another

John and Mary kissed themselves. vs. John and Mary
kissed each other.
 correlative use possible
e.g.: They each blamed the other.
The passengers disembarked one after the other.
 each other: tend to refer to two, informal
 one another: tend to refer to more than two, formal
Reciprocal pronouns (2)

 verbs that are symmetrical and reciprocal do not

necessarily require the reciprocal pronoun
e.g.: John and Mary met (each other) in York.
 while other verbs require the reciprocal pronoun to
express reciprocity
e.g.: John and Mary wrote letters to each other.
≠ John and Mary wrote letters.
Reciprocal pronouns (3)

 reciprocal pronouns cannot be used in subject position,

they must have corefence with an antecedent with
genitive or possessive
e.g.:
*Each other’s letter were delivered by the servant.
vs.
Their letters to each other were delivered by the servant.
Relative pronouns

 they introduce relative clauses

 wh-pronouns, that and zero
 no number or person contrast
 gender contrast: who – which (personal – nonpersonal)
 case constract: who – whom – whose (subjective – objective –
genitive)
 whose: can be nonpersonal as well
e.g.: the house whose roof damaged
~ the house the roof of which damaged OR the house of which
the roof damaged
 who and whom (formal vs. informal uses, substitution of whom, who
and whom as prepositional complements)
Interrogative pronouns (1)

 determinative function (who, whom, what, which),

pronoun function (whose, what, which)
 unlike relative which, interrogative which can be used for
personal reference (e.g.: see below)
 indefinite vs. definite reference
Who is your favourite composer? vs. Which is your
favourite composer?
which: choosing one from a defined ‘set’
Interrogative pronouns (2)

 who, whom, whose

 personal-nonpersonal, formal-informal distinction
 whose: personal only, as interrogative
 prepositional complement only before whom (deferred
is possible with both who and whom)
 what, which
 prepositional complement: initial (→formal) or
deferred
Demonstrative pronouns

 ‘near’
sg: this pl: these
 ‘distant’
sg: that pl: those

 they all have definite meaning → anaphoric/cataphoric

(except for that and those)/situational reference
 all (of) as predeterminer
e.g.: All (of) those are sold.